s&d: justin timberlake sporting an mc5 tshirt on the cover of vibe this month

Band T-shirt Etiquette

peopl should never wear band tshirts becaue they like the band. they should wear them for fashion reasons only. ideally, they should never have heard the band, or, at least dislike them

having said that, i do wonder whether justin might not have been better off sporting a Sky Saxon tshirt

a) it is being assumed justin doesnt listen to MC5 but merely wears it for image reasons. i see no problem with this, and think this is better than if he likes them (tho thats cool too)

b) the usual pop vs rock authenticity rubbish

c) alexs last point (which has more validity, but i still cant agree with) about image rights. why is it any worse for MC5 to sell image rights to a major company than for them to sell music rights to a major label? i cant see a problem here either (unless you think MC5 should not have thei records put out by a commerical entity - which is a whole other question but would at least have consistency)

Band T-shirt Etiquette

and here:

Hi-Fashion Ironic Vintage Metal/Punk Kitsch

But, I think it's the point that Justin Timberlake probably doesn't have the first fuckin' clue who the MC5 were. He's merely adopting their visuals to co-opt their inherent coolness, which simply makes him a poseur.

all the best people are poseurs! i mean, look at me!

http://www.jcchasez.nu/pics/pics/vibe0203/01.jpg

logical extrapolation: THE ONLY PEOPLE ALLOWED TO WEAR MC5 T-SHIRTS ARE REAL ACTUAL MEMBERS OF THE MC5!!

(it's not as if "the vinyl-hording proto-punk record-show regulars" all live in caves eating raw goat: some of them work on Wall Street, some of them are cops, some of them wear smoking jackets and read proust) (the last is how i imagine alex)

The best clothing non-sequitir EVER is still Peter Cetera from Chicago in the Bauhaus t-shirt in the vid for Hard For Me To Say I'm Sorry.

Its a nice t-shirt.

the whole thing shows up people over the age of 20 who wear band shirts as an expression of cool 4 the style-as-cred obsessed dolts they are.

could it be because mc5 were white panthers and justin could concievable showing the links between his music and background and his links with nerd?

it's a classic cover, though. aesthetically. though i would prefer it if he were wearing a rocket from the tombs t-shirt.

The cover is the cutest I've ever seen him.

Doomie's home! Hooray!

news year eve was strange, i was at a company party thrown by my brother in law, boring as hell though nobody took me up on my suggestion that we should have a key party! bahahahah!

What you call a "hang up" I call a "raison d'etre".

"why on earth wd JT not know who the MC5 are?"

`Cos he's fuckin' twelve!

"he probably reads abt them the same places the rest of us do"

Really doubt that.

"...and i'm sure he has BETTER access to free records"

Maybe so, but when was the last time there was a re-release by the MC5?

"alex's logic is (presumably) that, if JT had ever listened to the MC5 seriously (and likes them) he wd not be able to pursue the career he pursues"

Not exactly. I'd suggest that if JT listened to the MC5, he'd probably think: "whoa....this is not my scene," and thus wouldn't associate himself with it.

"but this makes no sense at all — or at least, no more sense than the claim that alex can't ever have listened to the MC5 (and liked them) or *he* wd not be able to pursue the career he pursues!!"

This point makes no sense, Mark, as you negate the possibility that I could appreciate the music of an artist without necessarily supporting every belief the artist in question espoused (classic example: Jaz Coleman's fixation with the occult, numerology and permaculturalism.)

"THE ONLY PEOPLE ALLOWED TO WEAR MC5 T-SHIRTS ARE REAL ACTUAL MEMBERS OF THE MC5!!"

No, only people who *APPRECIATE* the music of the MC5 should wear MC5 t-shirts. Pure. Simple. Succint.

"some of them work on Wall Street, some of them are cops, some of them wear smoking jackets and read proust) (the last is how i imagine alex)"

Don't smoke....thus I do not own a smoking jacket (as that would make me a poseur in the eyes of smokers. God forbid!)

alex you're posing smoking in any jacket

Conclusion: who gives a shit.

`Cos he's fuckin' twelve!

Not trying to be contrary, but I knew who MC5 were when I was twelve, and I wasn't even into music at that point.

I am now an official Justin groupie, I think.